Interim Interviews

The board met on Thursday, Jan. 26, to interview three candidates for the position of interim superintendent. There was a bit of controversy to begin the meeting, when member Charles Ford moved that a draft board policy (yet to be adopted by the policy committee or board) be discussed before the candidates were allowed to proceed. The board voted 7-1 to adopt the initial agenda without the addition, after which time, Mr. Ford left the meeting.

The issue in question is the process the board has used to bring candidates to be interviewed for interim superintendent. Below is the process for how the board came to interviewing the three individuals last night:

Dec. 15 - Superintendent Dr. TC Wallace and Yvonne Camaal Canul presented a document spelling out two tracks the board could take in pursuing an interim superintendent. This document was presented to the 2011 Board of Education, before I was officially sworn in.

Jan. 5 - (My first meeting as a member of the board) A motion was made and voted on (8-1) by the board to authorize the board officers to seek out five external candidates to interview for the position of interim superintendent.

Jan. 21 - Between Jan. 5 and 21, the board officers (Myra Ford, Nino Rodriguez, Nicole Armbruster and Guillermo Lopez) made contact with individuals in the state who are known as interested in serving as interim superintendents and supposedly have interest in the position of interim superintendent. Of the many names they considered, they were able to identify four that were interested in interviewing. These names were presented to the full board at our retreat on Jan. 21 at the Henry Center. At which time, the board decided to schedule interviews for Jan. 26.

Jan. 26 - The board held the interviews with the three candidates who were able to attend the meeting, had expressed interest in the position and met the requirements the board officers used to explore resumes.

The interviews went very well. The board constructed a series of seven questions to ask each candiate. This allowed each member an opportunity to ask one question (members C. Ford and Rodgers were not in attendance for the interviews) and allowed the board to get a feel for each candidate that went beyond the words on a resume.

After finishing the interviews, it was clear to me that one candidate stood heads and shoulders above the others. I'll wait until the next public meeting where this is discussed to express my opinion out of respect for the other candidates. If you were in the audience, let me know what you thought of the candidates.